WE INVESTED IN GM AND CHRYSLER

[melduagun]

WE "BEING" THE US TAX PAYERS. IN ORDER TO RE-COUP OUR TAX DOLLARS AS I SEE IT WE SHOULD BE BUYING THESE SAME PRODUCTS "RIGHT". SO WHY? DURING THE "CASH FOR CLUNKERS" USING EVEN MORE OF "OUR'" TAX DOLLARS DID THE AMERICAN TAX PAYERS BUY 41 PERCENT OF FOREIGN CARS, HUH? OH, YOU SAY THEY ARENT FOREIGN CARS SINCE SOME OF THEM WERE MADE IN THE GOOD OLE USA. WRONG! WHEN WE BUY FOREIGN PRODUCTS THE PROFIT FROM THE SALE GOES TO A FOREIGN COUNTRY,DUH! NOW DO THE MATH ON THAT ONE AND SEE WHY OUR GOVT. STATE AND FEDERAL KEEP WANTING MORE AND MORE OF OUR DOLLARS.

[Paco Bedejo]

Originally Posted by melduagun

WE "BEING" THE US TAX PAYERS. IN ORDER TO RE-COUP OUR TAX DOLLARS AS I SEE IT WE SHOULD BE BUYING THESE SAME PRODUCTS "RIGHT". SO WHY? DURING THE "CASH FOR CLUNKERS" USING EVEN MORE OF "OUR'" TAX DOLLARS DID THE AMERICAN TAX PAYERS BUY 41 PERCENT OF FOREIGN CARS, HUH? OH, YOU SAY THEY ARENT FOREIGN CARS SINCE SOME OF THEM WERE MADE IN THE GOOD OLE USA. WRONG! WHEN WE BUY FOREIGN PRODUCTS THE PROFIT FROM THE SALE GOES TO A FOREIGN COUNTRY,DUH! NOW DO THE MATH ON THAT ONE AND SEE WHY OUR GOVT. STATE AND FEDERAL KEEP WANTING MORE AND MORE OF OUR DOLLARS.

Just a thought...maybe they buy foreign cars because they're perceived as being better in some way?

**Grabs melduagun's soapbox**

The profits don't go to a foreign country. They go to a multinational corporation. There's a difference. Multinational corporations can have armies which are immune to war crimes, countries cannot.

I own a 2003 Mitsubishi Outlander & a 2005 Chevy Cobalt. They cost the same, but the Outlander is AWD, more comfortable, the AC works better, & it's more dependable.

Many people have had the same experiences. While the American auto-company execs were sewing their golden parachutes, foreign auto companies were streamlining their manufacturing & increasing their quality.

Pro Tip: Most people don't buy items they perceive to be sub-par, regardless of origin.

[csaws]

Pro Tip: Most people don't buy items they perceive to be sub-par, regardless of origin.

Snatching meldugan's soapbox out from under Paco Bedejo's feet...

Uhhhh, bull-crap, people buy knowingly crap made in Taiwan, china and other sub par products EVERYDAY.... if you don't believe me then look for the little gold made by a 4 year old forgein kid sticker on the bottom almost anything you own.

They said that the $4500 for the gov't to take your perfectly good car and trash it money was to stimulate the car industry. They should have said they wanted it to stimulate the big three and made it only available to those manufacturers. Wait what is that you say... oh that isn't fair to those that only buy foreign, too friggin bad. Maybe less people would have taxed my kids and grandkids because they thought they were entitled to a new car. I can't wait to see the car repo's skyrocket.

[pudly]

Recoup our tax dollars????
My turn on the soap box, folks.

Do you think we will ever see anything other than higher taxes and inflation in return for quadrupling the deficit this year over last? Did you know that Obama's management of these companies is so good that he gave our tax dollars to people to buy cars at a time when GM and Chrysler had to cut back on manufacturing due to their financial problems?

I'll eat my left arm before I ever expect to see the "investment" in further government control of American business result in actual in anything other than stagnation at best. Now GM and Chrysler are being told to build the least profitable vehicles in their lineup and punished for building those that people want and that make a profit. Where in the Constitution of the United States does it say that the govt can tell you what to produce? Oppose socialist takeovers. Don't encourage people to support them.

Let me see if I understand this. The govt is borrowing money to someday be paid back by our taxes and/or by printing money/inflation so that it can:
1- give money to car manufacturers
2- give money to car buyers
3- give money to banks so that they can finance the purchases
What can possibly go wrong with that?

Well let me answer:
1- Most of the money ends up as a subsidy to foreign-owned car companies.
2- Many still useful cars are being destroyed as part of this process, reducing the assets of the United States.
3- Banks are continuing to go out of business at an alarming rate because the original problem of govt-forced loans to risky borrowers has *never* been fixed.

Tea Party veteran.

[SavageEagle]

My Turn....

GGGGGGGGGGRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRAAAAAAAAAAA AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH HHHHH
BBBBBBBBBBBBBBAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH HHHHHHHHHHHHHHH





I do not feel better.

[BloodEclipse]

To the OP, we the people should be allowed to invest in what we see fit. It is not the government's purpose to steal the tax dollars from citizens, their children, and grandchildren to prop up any "PRIVATE" enterprise. If all of the money from the clunker program would have went to GM & Chrysler(Which is foreign owned) we the people, would have saw no more return on our money. It is all a shell game and it is the taxpayer who ends up losing every time.
The Cash for clunkers created an artificial demand and once it's gone all the same problems we had before are still with us.
I work in the auto industry and I expect after the first of the year, GM will be idling many plants due to lack of sales.

[Ashkelon]

Its just a shell game of moving money around to solve immediate crises without adjusting the models that led to these crises. We are delaying the inevitable. This "recession" is just scratching the tip of the iceberg.
No matter which economists or talking head pundits you listen or subscribe to look around at your immediate surroundings. People are over extended and their credit is maxed.
Until the bubble on this thing bursts I am going to continue to diligently maintain my toyota and hope for the best

[Paco Bedejo]

Originally Posted by csaws

Uhhhh, bull-crap, people buy knowingly crap made in Taiwan, china and other sub par products EVERYDAY.... if you don't believe me then look for the little gold made by a 4 year old forgein kid sticker on the bottom almost anything you own.

Examples? I'm not sure I've ever seen this gold sticker you speak of. I buy the lowest cost, highest value item when shopping. I do not pay attention to it's country of origin.

After ever-increasing taxes, stagnant wages (since I was a young teen), & high cost of living, I don't have the cash to be able to buy lower quality, higher priced American-made goods. I really don't care which multinational corporations I'm propping up. None of them should be allowed to exist in the first place & their profits DO NOT trickle downward (see wage stagnation). I don't feel led to rebel against this economic system which my "elder" generations put into place. For the record, I'm 31...I entered the workforce 2 years before the 9/11 economic crash, into a profession which didn't recover.

Instead, I'm more concerned with preserving our liberties & furthering libertarian ideals (not to be confused with the party). We have a lengthy fight ahead of us & !@#$%ing about which 1% of the wealthy get your cash isn't something I see as important.

Instead of trying to practice protectionism, you should really ponder why it is that the "greatest country on earth" can't generate enough jobs for its workforce. I say the blame is on our politicians & our corporations.

[CountryBoy19]

Originally Posted by csaws

Uhhhh, bull-crap, people buy knowingly crap made in Taiwan, china and other sub par products EVERYDAY.... if you don't believe me then look for the little gold made by a 4 year old forgein kid sticker on the bottom almost anything you own.

There is a big difference between cheaply priced, lower-quality stuff made in a foreign country and higher priced, lower-quality stuff made by a foreign company. Many people buy what they perceive as a good value, and the big 3 just aren't providing that to car buyers, end of story.

Regarding buying a car from a "foreign company". Sure, a certain amount of the profits may go back to the mother company in whatever country, but look at the whole story. We have a factory here in the states. The mother company dumped a ton of money into OUR economy to construct that factory and pay the work force. The workers that built that factory got paid FROM the mother company, and in turn spent that money here in the states again (with exception of buying foreign goods etc). Now, the workers that work in that factory and the workers that work to keep the factory up and running and to make improvements etc all have jobs and that money goes to families and workers HERE in the US economy. Who really cares where the 1% profits go in the end? 99% of the money is still right here in the USA. I honestly believe that "foreign" automakers that are producing right here in the states are exactly what this country needs. The big 3 are inefficient giant money pits that are just cruising along on past reputations and the reputation that foreign makers have as "being foreign". The foreign makers are efficient little giants that can provide a better product for a better price, all while providing jobs right here in the US. That leads to lower costs for the average family in the way of cheaper cars and better fuel mileage that comes with many of the smaller, foreign cars.

[Integraholic]